The hashtag, "HotJesus" went viral last week. It all had to do with the Son of God movie that was released to theaters and the physical appearance of actor Diogo Morgado who portrays Jesus. Apparently some people think Morgado is a good-looking guy and said so. That raised the issue of whether or not his …
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Three Cultural Values That are Suffocating Your Faith: Part 3, Security
I remember hearing a professional athlete some years ago make the case for renegotiating his contract. He was already making several million dollars a year and had a hefty signing bonus from his current contract already in the bank. There were a few years left on that contract but for a number of reasons he …
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Hollywood Falls in Love With the Bible
Recently I was asked to be a guest on a local news program to share a few thoughts about Hollywood's new found fascination with stories from the Bible. With the upcoming release of Noah starring Russell Crowe as well as The Son of God, as telling of the life of Jesus, there appears to be …
When someone you love and care about takes their own life …
When someone you love and care about takes their own life ... … it is one of the most traumatic and disorienting times you can face. The questions are seemingly endless and unanswerable. The what ifs become breeding grounds for regret, guilt and self-accusation. The recent death of Isaac Hunter has brought all of that …
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Pope Francis Bold Statement for Change
On balance I like more and more of what I am hearing out of Pope Francis. His call for abandoning traditions that, while beautiful, have lost their meaning and no longer connect to the Gospel is making him sound more like an evangelical all the time. This blog from CNN Beliefnet is an encouraging example.http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/26/pope-calls-for-hurting-and-dirty-church/
JFK and C.S. Lewis 50 Years to the Day.
They died on the same day, November 22nd 1963, within just a few hours on one another. One, struck down by an assassin's bullet in a scene captured on film for all time and seared into our brains, a scene which played out on the world stage again and again. The other quietly in his …
U2’s Bono interview about Christ
This is well worth reading all the way through. Bono nails it on the exclusive claims of Jesus that set Him apart from all other religious figures and about the supremacy of grace and our need for it.
Jesus-Stomping College Class
Recently a controversy erupted around a Florida Atlantic University course on cross-cultural communication in which students were asked to write the name Jesus on a piece of paper and then consider stomping on it. It ended up getting a reaction from the Governor of Florida as well as national news headlines. Here is an Orlando …
Each One Is Tempted When
http://www.northlandchurch.net/media/each_one_is_tempted_when/ Sermon from Northland this past weekend on James 1:13-18. Enjoy the worship. The sermon starts at the 29 minute mark.
A Book Review: Revealing Heaven, The Christian Case for Near-Death Experiences
Every once in a while a publisher or author asks me to do a review of a book and post it to my blog. They give me a copy of the book but there are no expectations as to what I will say about the book. Of course they are hoping I will say good …
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Twenty-five Years Old and He is Changing the World
When you travel as much as I do and meet so many people from such different cultures and life situations, you are often blessed to meet people who completely stun you with what they are accomplishing for good in the world. As I head home from a trip to Uganda and South Sudan I am …
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Sermon on Joy in the Midst of Suffering
http://www.northlandchurch.net/media/joy_when_you_encounter_various_trials/ This is the worship service from Northland on Sunday February 24th 2013 as well as the sermon I preached on James 1:2-4, & 12
Some good thoughts on suffering from one of my favorite guys from across the pond. Simon Vibert is Acting Principle of Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. I had the pleasure of taking a course there and am impressed by the work they are doing and Simon’s ability to combine solid scholarship with practical application for following Christ.
Job 6 – “When words are like wind”
In “Blue like jazz” Donald Miller wrote that he did not like Jazz because it didn’t resolve. He didn’t like God for the same reason.
Job helps to answer the question: what do you do with the unresolved, and how do you love God when life doesn’t make sense?
Miller argues that he eventually learned to love Jazz when he heard a street saxophonist “playing his heart out”, utterly absorbed in the music. When you love God you learn to live with the unresolved. Job helps us feel the heart of God.
Job is a complex and detailed book. The following four points are intended as an introduction to the long exchange between Job and his three so-called friends.
1. The value of Job
“If I did not have Job! It is impossible to describe all the shades of meaning and…
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Lost People Matter to God Sermon
http://www.northlandchurch.net/media/lost_people_matter_to_god/ Here is the sermon that Sean Cooper and I tag-teamed on recently. We really did tag-team, passing the message back and forth a few times. Enjoy the Northland Worship team at the beginning. If you stay to the end, consider how you can follow the application that involves some sticky notes. Blessings, Dan Lacich
The Provocative Christian 